Candy Man
by Dudly
Summary: We've all heard our mama say at some point to never ever accept candy from strangers, or take a ride from them. Marui was never that good with lectures, or refusing candy, for that matter. Kidnapping fic for reckless rage.


_**Fic written for the Pointless but Original Talking Forum Secret Santa Fic Exchange.**_

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**Request Number:** 01  
**Pairing/Groups:** Sweet, first and foremost. Thrill, Uke...? Maybe Royal, in a pinch.  
**Squicks/Turn Offs in Fic:** Bad spelling/grammar, OOCness, Mary-Sues, really.  
**Interests in Fic: **Yaoi. Maybe not the explicit kind. O_o I want a kidnapping fic, too! :D Feed my sadistic soul~  
**Gen/Het/Slash/Smut/None/All-of-the-above?:** ...Eh? Take your pick? XD Smut?  
**Request:** I'd like angst, or sorrow, but cute quirky fics will do fine, too, as long as they're not too sappy. But I still like angst best, which is why I asked for a kidnapping fic. O_O Character death...is OK, I guess. I'd also rather not have very explicit stuff - mild kissing etc is okay, but humping like mad on the carpet will be...x.x no thanks. I love Sweet, so if you can write an angsty Sweet fic I'll luff you!  
**A/N//Message to receiver: **I'll take a guess and say I'm writing for Rage-chan. I luff you, sweetie. :D Hope this is to your liking.

**x CandyMan x**

The man had looked too normal. Like your everyday average looking Japanese daddy in his forties, dressed in blue denims and a white short-sleeved shirt. On his face was hanging a "I'm a nobody" smile, realistic and honest at that time in Marui's eyes. No glint at all, no evilness, and he was proposing Marui a piece of candy. No, not one- a ton of candies: he said he worked in a candy factory. He said he needed someone to help him taste the flavours.

When had Marui Bunta ever refused candy? He climbed into the brown minivan with glee. The seats were comfortable, the windows taintless. The man, Hideki-san, chattered with the bubbly elementary school kid, nodding at all the right parts, not looking bothered in the slightest by the incessant rambling.

"What brand of candies do you produce?"

Hideki-san gave him an indulgent smile. "You probably don't know it."

"I know all about candy, sir!"

But the man had described the candies they were producing instead of answering. Chocolate centers, sugar-coated almonds, strawberry, watermelon and bananas flavoured candy, sour gums… Marui was drooling- the gum he was chewing had nearly fallen out.

"Mommy will get mad at me if I eat too much, though."

"We don't have to tell her about it."

Marui giggled and decided that he better not phone his mama, for she might forbid him to go, thus ruining what might be the happiest day of his life. After a couple of minutes, the excitation melted into a sweet kind of serenity, and he looked outside the window, observing the alien places they passed by, unsuspecting that soon, he would be forbidden all of outside things.

X

Marui's eyes widened. "It's so huge!"

"Indeed it is, son." Strangely, the man sounded reluctant. Marui didn't notice it though, as he was being led into the main room and was busy being in utter awe. Then the rows of candy goodness came into view. Given the chance, Marui would have stared and died a happy man (okay, eleven year old boy), but as he thought he had reached some ultimate paradise, life-changing events all succeeded at a blinding, dazing speed.

First, there was another boy in the room, one who seemed awfully alarmed by Marui's presence, or at least enough to start shouting "RUN!! RUN!!!!" at the top of his lungs.

Second thing Marui failed to see was that Hideki was, well, gone. He had slipped out in the first couple of seconds before the redhead had gone psycho.

Thirdly, someone had closed the door. It didn't make any noise though.

But Marui didn't have the time to process all this information, for someone had pressed a chloroform paper over his mouth and nose.

X

Almost an hour later, the décor had changed; the boy had been brought into another room. Cozy, yet somewhat intimidating, with only a small bed and two people sitting nearby, waiting for Marui Bunta to wake up.

"He could have _ran_," said the smaller one, pouting. The other exhaled in exasperation at the redundant argument.

"Stop it with your nonsense. My toys don't run away."

Marui groaned softly, feeling dizzy and nauseous, like when he had a fever and was in and out for a day or two. Where was he?

"I thought you said that what was yours was mine, too."

He couldn't remember what happened either. What he did know was that he hadn't tasted the delicious looking, strawberry-shaped marshmallow.

"Doesn't give you the right to chloroform them—with my chloroform, too!"

"It's your _father's_ chloroform, we're going in circles, and I think he's waking up."

Dread seized the boy as he vaguely grasped the words. He wanted to go back to sleep, but his curiosity got the best of him—how could he stay unconscious anyway? As he blinked his eyes open, he realized two boys were peering at him with obvious interest. The lights were dimmed, as if they knew he'd be easily blinded.

Huh. There had to have been some kind of misunderstanding for them to be this caring. Marui estimated that they were about his age, perhaps a year older or so. They could discuss this clearly and logically. That's what he had been taught at school. He attempted a smile. Found out he couldn't. Blinked a couple of times. Took in the chilly air. Frowned. "Where… what's going on?"

The two exchanged a look.

It was the brown haired one who broke the silence. "Say, boy, what is your name?"

"Marui Bunta." He had hesitated, sounded unsure, which was really silly, since his name was the one thing he was sure of. The _only_ thing he was sure of.

"That's a nice name," said the other one, his voice elegant for a kid. "I approve."

Marui was confused. "Approve of what?"

"Let's just say my approval is useful, if you are to stay."

The cryptic irritated Marui. The small boy sulked. "I'm not. My mama will worry."

The first boy who had spoken leaned closer, his fingers reaching out to caress Marui's left cheek. "Do you like your mama, Bunta-kun?"

"Yes…" His interlocutor smiled, not withdrawing his hand. "A lot."

"And what was the last thing you told your mama, Bunta-kun?"

Marui found out he couldn't remember. The soft petting had morphed into a forceful grip of his chin and the older boy had opened his eyes to stare him down. Never in his short life had Marui Bunta felt more exposed or more scared. He gulped. A warm knot in his throat made his breathing heavy and his face was twitching. Soon, he would break into sobs. But he tried his best to conceal his distress.

"Hey." The second boy, who had grey hair, came closer and wrapped his hand around his comrade's wrist. "That's enough."

There was a beat, and suddenly there was no hand on his jaw, no eyes piercing through him, no threat at all. Like nothing happened, the boy had reversed back to innocence, smiling sheepishly. "I was just playing."

"You'll play later. When he'll find out."

Know what? Marui thought. All right, at this point, he had a permanent bad feeling about the situation. Yet he couldn't conclude anything hastily, could he?

"He'll go all emo when he finds out," the brown-haired (and why didn't they tell him their names already?) boy pouted. "That's no fun."

Marui burst out crying. It made him slightly ashamed, crying in front of boys, but he couldn't help it. He had heard about sinking feelings before. That was a sinking feeling. He was experiencing sinking. It didn't feel nice at all.

The grey-haired boy emitted some impatient noise, reminded his friend about someone called Ryo-chan, a name that had perked up the brunet, and they headed out of the room.

Marui only cried harder.

x

At some point of his nervous breakdown, Marui became aware that someone had entered the room, but he didn't stop his misery show for so little. If anything, it had him crying more prettily, with no wiping his nose on his sleeves. But that ensued with him sniffing what had to be blown. After a couple of minutes like this, he had come to evidence: he needed a tissue.

He then found a box of it was sitting right beside him. The intruder wasn't too far either.

"You should have run. I told you to run."

Marui ignored the statement and went directly to his own question: "Where am I?"

His companion shook his blond head. "They took you. They forced you to sleep. Now you're here."

"Where's here?"

"Most of the people around like it here. My name is Jiroh, but they mostly call me Jii. I like Tobe."

Okay, that was too much. Lunatic little boy meant nightmare. In the "I'm Dreaming" sense- there was no way this was real. "Pinch me."

"Sure." Jiroh slapped him hard. "Better?"

"Hurts!" Marui caressed his cheek, hoping to erase the sting. "I said pinch!"

"Sorry," he said, without looking sorry. He shrugged. "You don't get what you ask for around here. Get used to it."

Marui felt his throat forming a big knot and let out a cry halfway between a laugh and a sob. He pinched himself. When it appeared to hurt as much as the slap, he resumed his previous crying.

Jiroh remained at his side, silent. Two hours later, the boss would come and check out the new kid, but there was no way he could say that to the mentally unstabled boy.

How could he even warn him of his fifty-fifty chance of dying?

--

**To be continued, of course.** 'Twas a bit choppy and confusing, apparently, but I'll just have to throw a couple of huggles to make up for it, since my brain can't seem to be able to fix anything. Oh well. I fail completely at multi-chapter fics, but that'll be my new year's resolution, won't it?

I -knew- I was writing for Rage-sweetie. XDDD -huggles-

By the way. Kidnapping fic? XD What's up with that? XDDD Sooo assume it's your fault if this turned out so horribly, pet. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

-huggles again-


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